Our 1st family holiday!

Bonjour! I've been a bit absent from the blog lately. If you follow me on twitter you'll know it was because we've been on holiday. In which case, apologies for the constant pollution of your timeline going on and on about our holiday! Just got a bit over excited!

However if you didn't know, I'll fill you in! We went to France and Belgium for a week, and it was wonderful. I can't begin to tell you how magical it was taking our baby girl on holiday for the 1st time. I'll certainly never forget it! I won't bore you with the details I could go on and on about it, so I've compiled some of our photos below for you to have a quick peek at. This isn't even half of them, but otherwise it would have been a really long blog post! Enjoy!

Fun times!

Boulogne Sur Mer & sealife

Lovely Lille

Beautiful Brugge

 

The Posers!

I'm a swinger!

I have a confession to make...This isn't easy for me but I have to share it with you.  I just couldn't keep it to myself any more.  I have an obsession...with swing dresses!


I've always loved the styles of those wonderfully feminine ladies of the 1940's and 50's.  The outfits were sexy without being too revealing (by todays standards at least), as well as pretty and cutesy too.  Especially the dresses.  So feminine and glamourous.  I have a few myself and I'd buy a few more if I could justify the expense!  They can be expensive to buy but just recently I've seen some fabulous and reasonably priced swing dresses that I'd love to get my hands on!  So reasonable I could almost justify buying myself a new one!  So I just thought I'd share my finds with you in case there are any more swing dress obsessives out there!

I Love this plain and simple polka dot dress.  Can be dressed up with fierce heels, fabulous hair and lashings of eyeliner.  Dress it down with ballet pumps and a cardigan for simple daytime chic...A classic!

 

Maybe you are looking for something a bit more summery? Summer blossoms on white is just right!  Team it with some retro white rimmed sunglasses and you are good to go.

 

A fan of the little black dress?  How about a little black swing dress?  This dress is a bit of a sexy take on the swing dress, a shorter hemline.  A definite head turner!

So there you have it, a swing dress for every style and occassion, all under £40! Can't get much better than that!

If you want to see more just look here: More beautiful swing dresses!

If I wanted advice... (or I must be a crap parent)

Deary me.  I must BE a crap parent.  I must LOOK like a crap parent.  I must ACT like a crap parent.  People must look at me and see someone who has absolutely NO IDEA how to look after a baby.  Yes, that must be it.  Otherwise, why would so many people feel the need to tell me how to raise my child?  Why would they tell me I should be doing X, Y and Z?

Do I dangle my baby over balconies in the style of Michael Jackson? NO!  Does my baby go hungry? NO!  Do I let my baby play with electrical appliances or sharp objects? NO!  Do I take her swimming in shark infested water? NO!  Do I feed her McDonalds and pot noodles washed down with cans of Coke? NO!  By all accounts my baby is happy and healthy.  She is 8 months, can crawl, pull up on furniture, say mamma and dadda (and I'm sure I heard a "hi" the other day), she has 6 teeth and one on the way.  In my opinion she is doing fine.  Obviously the "advice givers" know different.  Hence the advice...



Example One:

Does baby like yoghurt?

Yes I give her greek yoghurt with fresh fruit every day.

Oh? *insert judgemental look* Don't you think Petit Filous would be better?  It is made for babies.

(I'm sorry but how is giving my baby yoghurt and fresh fruit  a bad thing?  Worse than giving fruit flavoured yoghurt?  Slap on the back of the hands for me...BAD MUMMY!)

Example Two:

Those clothes are far too big for her.  Why not put her in something that fits? All that extra material is probably making her uncomfortable and might chafe her delicate skin...

She is between sizes right now.   *Again "the look"*

This is always said when Holly is transitioning between sizes.  Would these people rather I dressed her in clothes that were far too tight?  Surely that would chafe and hurt more than something which is marginally too big?  Silly Mummy!   I'm obviously supposed to be super mum and make her some made to measure clothing to wear so this never happens.  Should I be making her a new outfit every time she grows a centimetre?  I'm not sure...perhaps I better ask for advice?

Example Three:


You should take her out a walk every day...

Erm...we do.  We always have.

Oh that's good.  I'm glad you took my advice.

Erm...NO!  We always did that anyway.  Stop trying to make out that anything we do that you deem to be acceptable  is in any way your idea!  I suppose it must be though, since everything else we do is so wrong and bad.  We couldn't possibly have a single good idea on how to raise our child, could we?


Example Four:

Why don't you have foam corners on all your furniture?  Holly could hurt herself on this/that!  What do you mean you only have cupboard locks on some cupboards?  You should have them on every cupboard and drawer!  Aren't you worried that she'll hurt herself... *accusatory tone*

You  do realise that you physically cannot baby proof everything!  We have a baby gait for the stairs, plug covers and cupboard locks for the cupboards and drawers holding dangerous items.  Why lock a cupboard that holds tupperware tubs and some spatulas?  Isn't that just overkill?  Even if we do or do not have foam corners on the furniture Holly will fall and hurt herself somewhere, at some point.  Fact.  In addition, other places we take her will not be "baby proofed" (including your home, smarty pants advice giver).  Will you baby proof your entire home just so we can visit?  Didn't think so.  Oh well.  On your safety advice we'd better not visit you just incase Holly injures herself in your terribly unsafe home. Tsk Tsk...


So those are just a few examples of what we've had so far.  I could go on, but you get the point.  You'll have had it yourself I bet.  I probably take it all far too seriously/personally, but that's me.  I know these people are trying to help, but guess what...it doesn't help!  So please, do us all a favour you lovely givers of unnecessary advice.  Here is my friendly advice to you.  Please feel free to give us advice... when we ask for it!  Until then...keep it shut!

Review - Marc Jacobs Dot EDP

I'm possibly the biggest fan of Marc Jacobs fragrances so when Holly's daddy bought me the newest Marc Jacobs scent as a gift I was over the moon!  My favourite MJ scent has always been Daisy, although I also love a bit of Lola! They are simply divine! I did wonder though if it was possible for Marc Jacobs to create yet another beautiful fragrance for me to love?  Could it possibly be a love at first sniff yet again?  Well...you'll have to read the review to find out!

First of all I adore the packaging. In a word - pretty.  Black and red polka dots (hence the name Dot)!  I'm a fan of just about anything polka dot, so I was sold on just the box.  On opening the box I was met with a signature Marc Jacobs style bottle just as cutesy as the outer packaging.  As with all MJ fragrances the bottle is simple but the top is bright, stylish and beautifully designed.  Red with black polka dots and what looked like butterfly wings.  The lid looked like a hybrid of a butterfly and ladybird, (what would you call that? A butterbird or a ladyfly maybe?  Trust me though, it looks much prettier than either of those sound!)

Apologies for the poor photos.  Took these on my phone & before I  could take proper ones I accidentally smashed the perfume bottle lid!

So...what did I think of the scent?  On first spritz it has a lovely, surprisingly fruity fragrance.  The top notes of Dragon fruit and red berries are not fresh and zesty, but are instead juicy and almost tropical.  Once the fragrance settles the rich floral scent of jasmine and orange blossom filters through.  It is a fairly strong scent,  I like that in a perfume but if you prefer lighter fragrances this probably isn't for you.  To me it is heavenly, like walking through a tropical garden on a hot, heady summer night!  So I would definitely categorise this as an evening fragrance best worn in the summer (for me anyway). It is really up to you though, wear it whenever you like! I just think certain scents suit different occasions!  As for staying power, the Dot Eau de parfum lasted longer than 4 hours on me, the scent still staying strong throughout.  I think that can be said for all the MJ fragrances I've tried though.

So what is my overall view?  This is classic Marc Jacobs.  Floral notes and a strong fragrance.  If you are a fan of Marc Jacobs this is another great fragrance to add to your collection!  I love it!





Disclosure: all opinions given in this review are honest and my own.

Rant and Review - Always

Its that time again.  I'm on it.  Not like a car bonnet as the young uns' are so fond of saying.  Nope. I'm on it as in "I've got the decorators in".


I suggest if you don't want to read about periods that you don't read on.  Although the title should have given that away already.  Didn't you read it?  Yep, I'm in that sort of mood.  Ranty and arguementative.

I digress though.  Something has been bugging me ever since Aunt Flo came back after her year long holiday (much deserved I think since she's been hanging around me since the age of eleven).  I have ALWAYS had heavy periods and I'd ALWAYS used ALWAYS pads.  So went Aunt Flo came back I bought them again.  Yes, my period was even heavier now but they had always been more than good enough before.  Well not any more.  Have they changed them in a year?  I opened the packet and they certainly looked much tinier and thinner than I remember. Maybe I've just been spoiled by the thick pillow-like design of the maternity pad?

I now hate Always pads, they absorb NOTHING.  They are leaky. It is disgusting. I'd have to change pads about every 10 minutes they are so crap.  Awful.  I don't see how they can say they are so absorbant.  Kitchen towel would be more absorbant, and I don't even mean Plenty.  I'm talking ASDA smart price.  These things are so crap I couldn't even clean up a kitchen spill if I wanted to.  I seriously don't know what they've done to them.  Who are they made for? Effing Tinkerbell? In my opinion they would struggle to even be absorbent enough for a pixie with a period.

So that's it. I've said it. Sorry for this random blog post.  I felt it had to be said. Don't waste your money if your period is any heavier than that of a nit (if nits had periods).

How time flies....

It seems time really does fly.  I could have sworn I only brought Holly home from the hospital the other day, so how can that now be 8 MONTHS AGO?  She has grown so fast, like a beautiful (but noisy and sometimes grumpy) flower.  From not being able to hold up her head to crawling and now pulling up on furniture trying to terrify me.  It seems there is no stopping her!  I can't believe it looking back over the MILLION or so photos we have of her.  So here are some of them, no fancy photography here. Just a point and a click and one perfect baby...

She went from this....

To this....

And this...

She takes my breath away....Fearless, smart, strong and beautiful. My Holly.

Stay legal in France!

Next month we are having our first family holiday! I have to tell you I'm incredibly excited!
 
We decided we didn't want to go somewhere too far flung as we don't know how well Holly would adjust to the change. We also thought that taking Holly on a flight might have been difficult since she has started teething and become more mobile and active. It might be quite a challenge to keep her occupied during a flight!

So we decided we would drive to France!  It seemed like a good option. Although we have a long drive to Dover (about 7-8 hours), we know Holly likes the car and it means we can stop as many times as we need to.

The ferry itself only takes 90 mins so we plan to drive to Dover have an overnight hotel stay and be up fresh and ready for the ferry the next day!  Easy peasy!

I genuinely thought my biggest issue taking the car to France would be how much cheap wine we could bring back...However, when we were looking into it we realised that driving your own car to France requires some preparation or you may just find yourself on the wrong side of the law!  We've driven abroad many times before in places like Tunisia, Italy, Malta & yes...even in France!  However, we always hired a vehicle when we arrived.  It seems if you take your own car you MUST check that it fits all the legal criteria of the country you are driving in. So if you are going to France (or anywhere else in Europe) the first thing to check is your car insurance, make sure it is valid for travel abroad.  If it isn't already included in your current policy maybe check out that option next time you compare car insurance .  Also, did you know there are certain items & equipment you must carry in you car at all times whilst driving in France? If you do not have these items you risk being fined by the police!

• Set of Beam Converters
• Hazard Warning Triangle
• Magnetic GB Plate
• Reflective Emergency Jacket (MUST be kept in the front of the car for easy access)
• Bulb Kit
• Disposable breathalyser

You can buy a kit including all these items quite easily for around £20-30. When we talked about this with friends we were surprised how many of them had driven in France and didn't know they needed this equipment.  They were extremely lucky not to have been fined!

In addition to all the equipment you NEED to take, there are things which are safest left at home.  Did you know that the use of sat nav or GPS equipment is illegal?  If you are found to have these in your car (whether in use or not) you may face a fine of up to €1,500 and possibly face having your equipment and your car confiscated!! This is because it is illegal to have any type of equipment which has the potential to detect speed cameras.  Scary stuff!

As far as I know that seems to be all the info I could find on staying "road legal" in France.  I'm just glad I found out before we got there!  I really don't fancy being stranded in France with no car and a baby!

One last thing...if you were wondering just how much wine you can bring back from France, it is up to 120 bottles!

Hope this info is helpful to some of you, I don't want anyone else getting caught out!





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